A few weeks ago, I made it to Austin, TX for the Privacy Security and Risk Conference being held by the IAPP. As always, it was a great conference with pros and those who have only just begun as privacy professionals. One of the most interesting aspects of the conference was the focus on the [&he...

With the IAPP’s PSR 2018 conference just around the corner (see you all in Austin, TX), I have started thinking more about the conference. Originally, I attended the IAPP Academy, prior to becoming PSR, and it was very focused on learning for newer privacy pros. A lot of great conversations are h...

I recently read an article published on the Society for Human Resource Management’s website on the prevalence of biometrics in the employment context. Specifically, the author referenced a Spiceworks’ survey of IT professionals from February 2018 that provided, in my mind, surprising results.

My wife and I went to a favorite pizza place the other day. It is a small chain that has a loyalty program. The server, having seen us on a few other occasions, asked us if we wanted to sign up. All we needed to do was provide an email address, phone number, and name […]

With many of us so busily focused on compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) – and probably soon to be focused on the new California Consumer Privacy Act – it is easy to neglect (albeit inadvertently) other areas of the world. If you are a comp...

Since GDPR was introduced there’s been an upsurge in the number of tools that are available to help you manage your privacy environment. Over the past several weeks our clients have been taking a closer look at some of these. but often they find that the number tools out there that claim to...

Most of us have been wrapped up in GDPR preparations for several months. While there are many organizations “not quite there yet”, many others have made great strides towards compliance. As we continue to do assessments for clients, both GDPR and General Privacy, I have been surprise...

Starting January 1, 2020, if you are a for-profit company doing business in California, you may have new data privacy compliance obligations. Specifically, California just enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the country’s strictest data privacy law to date), placing new privacy m...

Not one to sit idly, twiddling his thumbs while the digital world goes by unchecked, Max Schrems has struck again. As you may recall, Schrems, a young Austrian attorney who became the EU champion of privacy rights, was the driving force behind having the EU-US Safe Harbor rule nullified. Now, on ...

It is no secret that I am, for lack of a better term, a nerd. I am also a Privacy Consultant here at Privacy Ref, so I usually pride myself on knowing about privacy goings on in the world. However, for the first time I was bamboozled by changes to a privacy policy.